AI executive – Executive assistant roles—once seen as stable entry points into white-collar careers—are being cut or relocated as professional services firms automate back-office work and lean into AI. PwC said it laid off 600 employees in the U.S. in February, including ass
For many people, the executive assistant job has never been glamorous—but it’s been dependable. It’s offered a foothold inside firms that run on schedules, briefings, and constant coordination. Now. a series of cuts and relocations at major professional services companies is changing what that foothold means. and how secure it is.
In February, PwC reportedly laid off 600 employees in the U.S., including assistants and recruiters, along with other back-office roles. The pressure isn’t limited to one firm. Deloitte, KPMG, and EY have eliminated non-client-facing support staff over the past year. Consulting firms including McKinsey have taken similar steps.
At EY and McKinsey, executive assistants were also relocated—either to states with a lower cost of living or out of the U.S. The changes are being felt more broadly than the private firms themselves. Bloomberg found the trend is impacting jobs at banks and law firms as well.
Workers who have already left these roles told Bloomberg they suspect one driver is making sure partner compensation remains intact. That idea sits uncomfortably alongside the firms’ stated business needs: they are seeing less demand overall. and like other employers they face pressure to embrace AI and reduce costs.
At PwC, Bloomberg said the layoffs were fueled in part by greater automation and AI adoption at the firm. The result is a shift that affects positions many people once treated as steady—especially for those who depend on administrative roles to build careers.
Executive assistant positions can come with relatively strong pay; in the finance industry, salaries can cross $100,000. But in an AI-driven workplace, that stability is being tested. Researchers at the Brookings Institution and GovAI concluded earlier this year that secretaries and administrative staff are likely to lose jobs to AI and will struggle to adapt more than other displaced workers. making it harder for them to find new positions. Brookings’ work also points to an unequal impact: administrative-role losses are likely to disproportionately affect women. who are overrepresented in the jobs most exposed to automation.
The fallout isn’t only about people already holding these titles. Another Brookings report—this time in partnership with the nonprofit Opportunity@Work—found AI could derail career pathways for workers without college degrees. For many of these workers, “gateway” jobs function as a stepping stone into higher-paid roles. Administrative roles have historically served as that portal for noncollege graduates.
Put together. the cuts at major professional services firms and the research warnings about adaptation and pathway disruption create a picture that feels less like an isolated reorganization and more like a rerouting of access to white-collar work. If assistants and support staff at prestigious firms are being sidelined already. the question hanging over the job market is how far AI will go next—and how many people will be left trying to rebuild a career after the doorway closes.
AI automation executive assistant jobs PwC layoffs Deloitte KPMG EY McKinsey back-office roles banking and law firms Brookings Institution GovAI Opportunity@Work women and automation career pathways
So basically they can’t afford humans now? Wild.
I swear every article about AI is just “they fired people” and then it’s supposed to be progress. Like what are executive assistants even supposed to do now, click buttons all day? Also PwC laying off 600 sounds huge but maybe it’s not as bad as it sounds?
Wait so they moved assistants to cheaper states or out of the U.S. but the title says AI is wiping them out… isn’t that more like outsourcing than AI? My cousin worked at a law firm and she said it was “AI” too but honestly it felt more like keeping partners fat and just cutting everyone else first.
This is why I don’t trust those “back office” jobs to be stable. They always say it’s automation and efficiency, but then you hear someone got relocated and suddenly nobody knows where they went. Bloomberg says it’s to protect partner compensation, which sounds like the real story honestly. And if banks/law firms are doing it too then yeah, this is gonna hit a lot of people who thought an assistant job was like a career ladder.